AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Keep going,” he said hoping to distract her, fearful about the amount of blood oozing from her head. But he didn’t dare move her without a spine board beneath her.
The sound of an ambulance siren could be heard, but they were still blocks away and they needed to get here now.
“Six, four, two,” she said her voice trailing off.
“Mrs. Phillips. Are you married?” he asked.
“Yes, my husband Tim told me…” she stopped and he could see that she was getting very woozy.
“Stay with me, Mrs. Phillips,” he told her, sitting next to her and getting into her face. “Take a deep breath and focus on me.”
Hannah, who had done a body preliminary check, shook her head at him. Her fingers were once again on her wrist.
“I don’t think you’ve broken your arms or legs, but your back, I’m still concerned, but we’re not going to move you until the paramedics get here.”
“Heart rate is too high,” she mouthed to him.
The woman was definitely going into shock. Suddenly her body began to shake.
“I can’t breathe,” she gasped. “What’s wrong?”
He put his hand on her heart. “I think she’s going into cardiac arrest.”
The ambulance pulled up to where she lay in the parking lot. The snow was still coming down hard.
“Bring a defibrillator,” Hannah yelled. “We need it now. And a long spine board.”
The woman’s eyes closed and Noah feared they were going to lose her right here in the parking lot.
The paramedics came running with their tactical medical kit. One man carried a defibrillator.
“Dr. Noah Baker and Dr. Hannah Young,” Noah told them standing and getting out of the way. “The patient is Linda Phillips; she’s seventy years old. The patient fell here in the parking lot on ice and smacked the back of her head. We’ve not moved her for fear of a spinal injury. Her heart rate is way too fast and I think she’s gone into shock and suffering from cardiac arrest.”
The paramedics looked at them stunned and the head guy took out his stethoscope and listened to her heart.
“Get the paddles out now,” he called. “She’s in full cardiac arrest.”
“Stand back,” he yelled, opening her coat and ripping her blouse open. Once he had the paddles on her chest, he yelled, “Clear.”
The woman’s body jumped and Noah feared they had damaged her spinal cord if it was broken. But at least she was still alive.
The paramedic put his stethoscope back on her chest. “She’s back. Let’s get her to Missoula General now.”
They slid the backboard beneath her, strapped her head down, and then lifted the board and put it on the waiting stretcher.
“This is her granddaughter,” Hannah told them. “You called your father?”
“Yes,” she said, staring at her grandmother in disbelief.
“She can ride in the front of the ambulance,” the lead paramedic said.
Hannah nodded.
“Good luck,” she told the little girl.
Noah, who was shivering badly, grabbed his coat. “I’m going to need that.”
The paramedic laughed. “You think?”
